Forests have a useful role to play in reaching many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to a panel of experts.

During a recent meeting, held in Rome from 10-11 January 2005, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) High-Level Panel of External Experts on Forestry highlighted the contribution that forests and trees outside forests can make to achieving the MDGs relating to poverty, hunger and environmental sustainability. In the meeting, panel Chair David Kaimowitz, who also heads the Center for International Forestry Research, noted that “forest products can contribute directly to the goal of reducing poverty and hunger by providing cash income, jobs, and consumption goods for poor families.” The six experts attending the meeting recommended a number of actions FAO can take to assist countries’ efforts to achieve the MDGs. These included: assisting countries in carrying out analyses of the forest-poverty links in their national context; increasing the visibility of the forest sector in countries’ Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and other sustainable development plans; supporting countries’ efforts to enhance participatory processes in the forest sector; and encouraging corporate social responsibility in the private forestry sector. FAO press statement on the meeting.